The Make Votes Matter Amendment

Resolved, that the United States Constitution be amended as follows: “The seventeenth article of amendment to the United States Constitution is hereby repealed. And no State shall appoint any Elector who has promised, sworn, or formally declared his vote for any candidate or party, or who has caused to be published his preference among candidates for President or Vice President; nor shall any ballot associate the Electors to be chosen with any candidate or party.”

Well, you’ll notice that what I’m doing is strengthening the role of Electors, and making it nearly impossible to replace them with mass-market campaigns for particular candidates. I would love it if every congressional district had people debating which citizen from that district was most to be trusted to choose their President. It would make Presidents and national parties much less important, and help to weaken the tendency of modern states toward messianic faith in leaders who govern on something akin to the Fuhrerprinzip ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%BChrerprinzip ).